EU at the UN

The EU's commitment to effective multilateralism, with the UN at its core, is a central element of its external action. As a UN observer with enhanced status, the EU delegation coordinates with its 28 Member States to speak with one voice. The EU also works closely with the UN secretariat and its agencies, funds & programmes, partnering on a range of global issues and challenges.

Climate change and the EU’s response

The world is getting rapidly warmer, and there is an overwhelming consensus
among the leading climate scientists that this is being caused mainly by carbon
dioxide and other 'greenhouse gases' emitted by human activities, chiefly the
combustion of fossil fuels and deforestation. These gases remain in the
atmosphere for many decades and trap heat from the sun in the same way as the
glass of a greenhouse.

Global warming is already causing changes in the world's climate and these
will become increasingly severe unless urgent action is taken to reduce
emissions. Last year's Fourth Assessment Report from the UN Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which represents the most authoritative and
up-to-date global scientific consensus on climate change, concludes that the
warming of the global climate system is "unequivocal" and accelerating. It
points to a greater than 90% probability that increases in man-made emissions of
greenhouse gases have caused most of the temperature increase seen since the
middle of the 20th century.

The global average temperature has risen by 0.76°C since 1850, with
Europe warming faster than the average, by almost 1°C. The past 13 years
(1995-2007) have seen 12 of the warmest years on record. The rate of sea level
rise has almost doubled from 18 cm per century between 1961 and 2003 to 31 cm
per century in 1993-2003.

The IPCC projects that temperatures and sea levels will continue rising
unless action is taken to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

Its best estimate is an additional temperature rise over the course of the
21st century of between 1.8° and 4.0°C, but in a worst case
scenario the increase could reach 6.4°C. In historical terms, these are
enormously rapid changes. Our civilisation has never been faced with a change in
climate of anything like this magnitude. Even the lowest likely increase
projected by the IPCC would push the world's temperature more than 2ºC
above the pre-industrial level by the end of the century. This would take
temperatures into the danger zone where irreversible and potentially
catastrophic changes to the global environment become far more likely.

A further rise in average sea level of between 18 and 59 cm is anticipated
this century. However, this range may be underestimated as the projections do
not include the full effects of changes in ice flows.

What impacts is climate change already having and projected to have in
future?

The warming of the global climate system is already evident in increases in
average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, longer
growing seasons and rising sea levels. The consequences of these changes include
earlier spring peak water discharge into many glacier- and snow-fed rivers, lack
of snow at low-altitude ski resorts and a polewards shift in the ranges of plant
and animal species. There is also evidence of increased human death rates in
Europe and Asia during prolonged heat waves.

There is strong scientific evidence that the risks of irreversible and
possibly catastrophic changes in the global environment would greatly increase
if global warming exceeds 2°C above the pre-industrial temperature.
Examples of such possible changes include thawing of the Arctic permafrost,
which would release huge quantities of methane gas into the atmosphere, or
extensive melting of the Greenland and/or West Antarctic land-based ice sheets,
which would raise sea levels by several metres in the long term (it is very
likely that the melting of these ice sheets is already contributing to sea-level
rise). The EU therefore takes the position that the objective of global action
must be to keep the temperature increase within this 2°C limit.

The impacts of climate change are expected to become progressively more
severe the higher temperatures rise. They are projected to include the
following:

Extreme weather events - storms, floods, droughts and heatwaves - will
become more frequent, more widespread and/or more intense, causing human deaths
and injuries and economic damage. It is likely that tropical cyclones will
become more intense and that the areas affected by drought will increase. It is
projected that by 2080 many millions more people will be flooded every year due
to sea-level rise.

Changes in rainfall patterns will put pressure on water resources in many
regions, affecting both drinking water supplies and agriculture. As is already
being observed, precipitation is very likely to increase in high latitudes and
the tropics and likely to decrease in most sub-tropical regions. With a global
temperature increase of 2.5°C above pre-industrial levels, over 3 billion
more people worldwide are likely to suffer from water scarcity. Agricultural
production in many African countries is projected to be severely compromised: as
early as 2020 yields from rain-fed agriculture could be cut by up to 50% in some
countries, exacerbating malnutrition.

Warm seasons will become dryer in the interior of most mid-latitude
continents, increasing the frequency of droughts and land degradation. This will
be particularly serious for areas where land degradation, desertification and
droughts are already severe. Developing countries will suffer particularly, and
tropical diseases will extend their geographical ranges.

The resilience of many ecosystems is likely to be exceeded this century by
an unprecedented combination of climate change, the disturbances it will cause
and other drivers of global change such as pollution and over-exploitation of
resources. Geographical shifts in the occurrence of different species and/or the
extinction of species will occur. Some 20-30% of plant and animal species
assessed so far are likely to be at greater risk of extinction if the global
average temperature increase exceeds 2-3°C above the pre-industrial level.
Cold weather mammals like polar bears could be especially
threatened.

The regions likely to be most strongly affected by
climate change are:

The Arctic: high rates of warming are projected which will impact on natural
systems and human communities. Average temperatures in the Arctic have increased
at almost twice the global average rate in the past 100 years.

Africa, because of projected climate change impacts such as drought, water
stress, reductions in crop yields and sea-level rise and Africa’s low
capacity for adapting to climate change.

Asian and African megadeltas, due to their large populations and high
exposure to sea-level rise, storm surges and river flooding.

Small islands, where people and infrastructure are at high exposure to
projected climate change impacts such as sea-level rise, coastal erosion and
reduction of fresh water resources.

What about impacts in
Europe?

Europe will not be spared. The IPCC expects nearly all European regions to be
negatively affected by some future impacts of climate change and these will pose
challenges to many economic sectors. Climate change is expected to magnify
regional differences in Europe’s natural resources and assets.

According to the IPCC projections, the temperature in Europe may climb by a
further 4-7°C this century in the absence of further global action to limit
emissions of greenhouse gases.

Negative impacts across Europe will include increased risk of inland flash
floods, and more frequent coastal flooding and increased erosion due to
storminess and sea-level rise. The great majority of organisms and ecosystems
will have difficulties adapting to climate change. Mountain areas will see
retreat of glaciers, reduction of snow cover and winter tourism, and extensive
species loss – in some cases of up to 60% by 2080 under high emission
scenarios.

In southern Europe, climate change is projected to worsen high
temperatures and drought in a region already vulnerable to climate variability.
Water availability, hydropower potential, summer tourism and crop productivity
in general are expected to be reduced. Climate change is also projected to
increase health risks due to heat waves and the frequency of wildfires.

In central and eastern Europe, summer precipitation is projected to
decrease, causing greater pressure on water resources. Health risks due to
heatwaves are projected to increase. Forest productivity is expected to decline
and the frequency of peatland fires to increase.

In northern Europe, climate change is initially projected to bring
mixed effects, including some benefits such as reduced demand for heating,
increased crop yields and increased forest growth. However, as climate change
continues its negative impacts – including more frequent winter floods,
endangered ecosystems and increasing ground instability - are likely to outweigh
its benefits.

What can we do about climate change?

We have to act on two fronts simultaneously.

The first is to take urgent action to halt the rapid rise in global
emissions of greenhouse gases and then reduce them sharply. As the projections
contained in the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report underline, this is essential if
we are to prevent climate change from reaching very dangerous future levels that
could change the face of the planet.

The EU is adamant that global warming must be limited to no more than
2°C above the pre-industrial temperature. This will require global
emissions to peak within the next 10-15 years and then be cut by at least 50% of
1990 levels by 2050. These reductions are very ambitious but the IPCC report
backs the European Commission's analysis that they are both technologically
feasible – using clean technologies already available or in the pipeline
– and economically affordable.

The second front is adaptation. All sectors of society need to adapt
to climate change because it is already happening - and it will continue to get
more severe until we succeed in bringing emissions under control. By adapting,
we can cope more easily with climate change and minimise its adverse impacts by
anticipating them. Examples of adaptation measures include strengthening sea
defences to protect against future sea level rise and developing new types of
crops that can grow even in drought conditions. The Commission has launched a
debate on options for EU action on adaptation through its June 2007 Green Paper
on the issue.[1]

Adaptation is no substitute for mitigating climate change by reducing
emissions. The two complement each other and together can significantly reduce
the risks from climate change.

What are the expected costs of climate change - and of action to control
it?

The economic costs of climate change - and the economic advantages of taking
strong and early further action to control it - have been highlighted by the
2006 Stern Review of the economics of climate change, commissioned by the UK
government.

The Review underlines that the benefits of prompt action to reduce emissions
far outweigh the costs, and that the earlier action is taken the less costly it
will be. It estimates that allowing climate change to continue unabated would
eventually reduce global GDP by at least 5% and possibly as much as 20% or more
per year. The higher of these figures would have a devastating economic and
social impact on the same scale as the Great Depression or the two World Wars.

By contrast, action to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions at a level that
would prevent climate change from reaching dangerous proportions would cost
around 1% of GDP if taken swiftly, the Stern Rerview estimates. The cost –
and the risk of failure - would rise the longer action was delayed.

Analysis by both the Commission and the IPCC supports this assessment and
confirms that limiting global warming to 2ºC above the pre-industrial
temperature is fully compatible with sustaining global economic growth.

Investment in a low-carbon economy will require around 0.5 % of total global
GDP over the period 2013–2030, the Commission’s analysis shows. This
would reduce global GDP growth by just 0.19 percentage points per year up to
2030, a fraction of the expected annual GDP growth rate of 2.8%. The IPCC puts
the reduction in global GDP growth lower, at less than 0.12 percentage points a
year up to 2050. Neither estimate takes account of the ancillary economic
benefits of action such as greater energy security, reduced health costs and
damage from avoided climate change.

These small decreases in annual GDP growth can be seen therefore as a modest
insurance premium for significantly reducing the risk of irreversible damage
from climate change.

What action is the EU taking to combat climate change?

The EU has long been leading international efforts to address climate change
effectively. Preventing climate change from reaching dangerous levels is a
strategic priority for the European Commission and EU Member States.

EU-level action is an essential complement to Member States' own efforts to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Combating climate change is the first of the
6th Environmental Action Programme’s four priority areas and
one of the main commitments made under the EU Sustainable Development Strategy.
The need to reduce emissions is being progressively integrated into key EU
policy areas such as agriculture, energy, regional policy and research.

European Climate Change Programme

Central to this work
is the European
Climate Change Programme (ECCP), launched in 2000. Under this umbrella, the
Commission, Member States and stakeholders from business and industry,
environmental groups, science and academia have identified a range of
cost-effective policies and measures to reduce emissions and reviewed existing
measures to see how they could also contribute.

Many of the policies and measures that have been identified are now being
implemented, including legislative initiatives to promote renewable energy
sources for electricity production, improve the energy performance of buildings
and restrict emissions from fluorinated industrial gases with a powerful global
warming impact. By far the most important cross-cutting measure developed under
the ECCP has been the EU Emissions
Trading System (EU ETS). Launched in 2005, this restricts CO2
emissions from some 11,000 energy-intensive installations in power
generation and manufacturing industry (see MEMO/06/452).

While the first phase of the ECCP focused on developing measures to ensure
the EU and Member States meet their Kyoto Protocol emission targets for
2008-2012, a second ECCP was launched in October 2005 to identify further
cost-effective measures to reduce emissions up to and beyond 2012 and to develop
strategies for adapting to climate change. This work has led, inter alia, to the
proposal and decision to include aviation in the EU ETS (see IP/08/1114),
the proposal for new fuel quality standards (IP/07/120),
the proposal for a regulation on CO2 emissions from new cars (IP/07/1965)
and the Green Paper on adaptation to climate change (IP/07/979).

New energy policy for Europe

In January 2007 the
Commission proposed an integrated set of measures to establish a new energy
policy for Europe focused on stepping up the fight against climate change,
boosting the EU's energy security and competitiveness and putting Europe on the
road to becoming a low-carbon economy.

The strategy sets ambitious targets for greenhouse gas emissions and energy
use, to be met by 2020, which were endorsed by EU heads of state and government
at their European Council meeting in March 2007. This decision has further
cemented the EU’s international leadership on climate change and set the
agenda for global action.

On greenhouse gas emissions, the EU is proposing that developed countries
commit to reduce their collective emissions to 30% below 1990 levels by 2020.
The EU has committed itself to doing so provided other developed countries agree
to make comparable reductions under a new global climate treaty for the
post-2012 period that is due to be concluded at the end of next year.

At the same time, and irrespective of the outcome of the negotiations on a
new global climate deal, EU leaders have also committed the EU to reducing its
greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20% below 1990 levels in order to start
transforming Europe into a highly energy-efficient, low-carbon economy.

Underpinning these climate goals are related energy targets:

A 20% reduction in projected annual energy use in 2020 through greater
energy efficiency

An increase in the share of renewable energy to 20% by 2020, including a
share of at least 10% for renewable fuels in road transport in each Member State
by the same year.

Climate action and renewable energy package

In January
2008 the Commission presented a major package of legislative proposals that are
key to achieving these climate and renewable energy targets (IP/08/80).
The package comprises proposals for:

- Establishing a legal framework for the safe and environmentally sound use
of carbon capture and storage technology (MEMO/08/36)

At the same time, the Commission adopted new guidelines governing the use of
state aids for environmental purposes (MEMO/08/31).

Intensive negotiations between the Council and the European Parliament are
under way with the aim of reaching a first-reading agreement on these
legislative proposals, as well as the proposed legislation on CO2
emissions from new cars and on fuel quality, before the end of this year. It is
hoped that political agreement among the Member States can be reached at the
European Council meeting on 11-12 December and that the legislation can then be
approved by the European Parliament at its plenary session starting on 15
December.

Agreement on the package will strengthen the prospects of concluding an
ambitious new global climate treaty by furnishing proof to the rest of the world
of Europe's determination to take bold action at home. Agreement is needed in
December in order to ensure that formal adoption of the legislation can be
completed before the European Parliament breaks for elections next June,
otherwise the package could be significantly delayed.

Energy efficiency

To achieve the goal of cutting annual
consumption of primary energy by 20% by 2020, the EU will have to intensify its
actions related to energy efficiency. On 13 November the Commission put forward
an Energy Efficiency Package (MEMO/08/699)
as part of the EU Energy Security and Solidarity Action Plan (IP/08/1696).
The Energy Efficiency Package proposes to strengthen the Directive on the energy
performance of buildings by extending its requirements to more buildings and
houses. It further includes proposals to extend the scope of the mandatory EU energy labelling
scheme for domestic appliances and for a new labelling scheme for tyres to
promote their fuel efficiency. The importance of cogeneration and of financing
schemes to support investments in energy efficiency are also emphasised.

Meanwhile, minimum efficiency requirements and more demanding labelling
classes will be introduced for a wide range of products through the directive on
eco-design
of energy-using products and the energy labelling scheme for domestic
appliances, both of which are important elements of the Action Plan for
sustainable consumption and production and sustainable industrial policy (IP/08/1154).
Targetted products include TVs, light bulbs, washing machines, boilers or water
heaters and motors.

Europe’s drive towards a low-carbon future is being further underpinned
by the Strategic Energy Technology Plan launched by the Commission in late 2007
(see IP/07/1750)

What progress is the EU making in reducing emissions?

The EU’s greenhouse gas emissions are falling due to the combined
impact of policies and measures resulting from the European Climate Change
Programme, domestic action taken by Member States and the restructuring of
European industry, particularly the transition to the open market economy in
central and eastern Europe in the early 1990s.

These factors have enabled the EU to ‘decouple’ emissions from
economic growth.

The 'EU-15' Member States reduced their collective emissions by 2.7% between
the base year (1990 in most cases) and 2006 while the economy grew by more than
40% over the period. EU-25 emissions were down 10.8% over the same timeframe (IP/08/965).
These reductions compare, for instance, with a 14.4% rise in US emissions
between 1990 and 2006 as the US economy expanded by 59.7%.

Under the Kyoto Protocol the EU-15 are committed to reduce their collective
emissions in the 2008-2012 period to 8% below base year levels. Latest
projections from Member States indicate that this reduction will be achieved by
2010 through a combination of measures already taken, the purchase of emission
credits from third countries and forestry activities that absorb carbon from the
atmosphere. The implementation of additional policies and measures under
discussion at EU and national levels would bring a further reduction of 3.3%,
enabling the EU-15 to do better than its Kyoto target requires (see IP/08/1534
and Annex to this memo).

What international agreements are in place to fight climate
change?

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its
Kyoto Protocol provide the international framework for combating climate
change.

UNFCCC

The UNFCCC, the first international treaty to
specifically address climate change, was adopted in May 1992 and came into force
in March 1994. To date 192 Parties – 191 countries and the European
Community - have ratified it.

The Convention's goal is to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the
atmosphere at a level that prevents dangerous human interference with the
climate system. It obliges Parties to establish national programmes for reducing
greenhouse gas emissions and to submit regular reports. A number of global
monitoring and reporting mechanisms are in place under the UNFCCC to keep track
of emissions.

The Convention also encouraged industrialised countries to stabilise their
greenhouse gas emissions at 1990 levels by the year 2000. The EU comfortably met
this target.

The UNFCCC is based on the principle of ‘common but differentiated
responsibilities and respective capabilities’. This recognises that while
all countries have an interest in controlling climate change, the developed
world should lead in reducing emissions since it is responsible for most of the
historical build-up of greenhouse gases and also has greater economic resources
to address the issue.

Parties to the UNFCCC meet annually to review progress and discuss further
measures. Their next meeting will take place from 1-12 December 2008 in
Poznań, Poland.

Kyoto Protocol

In December 1997 governments took a
further step to address climate change by adopting the Kyoto Protocol to the
UNFCCC.

Building on the UNFCCC framework, the Protocol sets legally binding limits on
greenhouse gas emissions from 39 industrialised Parties including the European
Community and the EU-15. It also introduces innovative market-based
implementation mechanisms - the so-called Kyoto flexible mechanisms - aimed at
reducing the cost of curbing emissions and funding clean development in
developing countries.

Under the Protocol, industrialised countries are required to limit or reduce
their emissions of six greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO2), the
most important and common gas, methane, nitrous oxide, and industrial gases
called hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride. The
overall reduction required amounts to a cut of around 5% below the level in the
chosen base year (often 1990), and is to be achieved during the Protocol’s
first “commitment period” from 2008 to 2012. There are no specific
emission targets for developing countries.

The EU-15 (the 15 countries that were members of the EU at the time of
ratification of the Protocol in 2002) took on a commitment to reduce their
combined greenhouse gases emissions to 8% below base year levels (1990 in most
cases). Under the EU Decision to ratify the Protocol, this collective target has
been translated into differentiated, legally-binding national targets for each
EU-15 Member State, ranging from a reduction of 28% by Luxembourg to an increase
of 27% for Portugal. Of the 12 Member States that have acceded since 2004, 10
have individual reduction commitments of 6 or 8% under the Protocol. Only Cyprus
and Malta do not have Kyoto targets.

The Kyoto Protocol entered into force on 16 February 2005. So far 182
countries and the European Community have ratified it. Among developed countries
that originally signed the treaty, only the US has not ratified. This means the
Kyoto emission targets currently apply to 37 developed countries plus the
European Community (EU-15).

What are the Kyoto flexible mechanisms?

The Kyoto Protocol creates three market-based mechanisms, known as the Kyoto
flexible mechanisms: international emissions trading between governments with
Kyoto targets, the Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation.

The aim of these mechanisms is to allow industrialised countries to meet
their targets cost-effectively while stimulating investment in, and the transfer
of clean technology to, emissions-saving projects in developing countries and
economies in transition. The rationale is that emission reductions have the
same impact on the atmosphere regardless of where they are made, so it is
sensible to make them wherever it costs least. Detailed rules and supervisory
structures have been set up to ensure that these mechanisms are not abused.

International emissions trading

Emissions trading can
take place between countries with Kyoto targets, ie industrialised nations.
Reflecting the emission targets agreed in Kyoto and under the internal EU
agreement to share out the EU-15’s 8% reduction among Member States, each
country has been assigned a fixed maximum amount of emission (in tonnes) for the
2008-2012 commitment period. Countries that emit less can sell their unused
emission units to others that emit more. This will allow reductions to take
place where they are cheapest, reducing compliance costs.

Inspired by this model, the EU has developed and implemented its own
company-level emissions trading system, the EU Emissions Trading System (EU
ETS). This ‘cap and trade’ system, launched on 1 January 2005,
covers all 27 EU Member States and is the first and biggest international
company-level emissions trading system in the world (see (MEMO/08/35).
It has rapidly become a major driver behind the expansion of the global carbon
market.

Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation

The
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI) allow
industrialised countries to achieve part of their emission reduction commitments
by investing in emission-saving projects abroad and counting the reductions
achieved toward their own commitments.

JI covers projects in other industrialised countries with Kyoto targets,
while CDM projects are carried out in developing countries. The two mechanisms
lower compliance costs for developed countries at the same time as channeling
investment and clean technologies to developing countries and economies in
transition, thereby supporting their sustainable development goals.

CDM credits can be generated retroactively, from 2000 onward, while JI
credits are generated during the 2008-2012 period. A condition for the issue of
credits is that the projects result in real, measurable and long-term emission
savings that are additional to what would have happened otherwise. Several EU
Member States intend to buy CDM and JI credits to help them meet their Kyoto
targets. Collectively they have budgetted €2.95 billion to do so.

The EU ETS is driving the expansion of the global carbon market because it is
linked to CDM and JI. Companies participating in the EU ETS can use credits from
most types of CDM projects and from JI projects to offset their emissions in the
same way as they use emission allowances. This link is channelling investment in
CDM and JI projects by European companies, in addition to the purchases planned
by governments.

What would happen if a country missed its Kyoto emissions target?

The compliance regime for the Kyoto Protocol is among the most comprehensive
and rigorous in the international arena. If a Party fails to meet its emissions
target, the Protocol requires it to make up the difference plus a further 30% as
a penalty in the second commitment period (after 2012). It must also develop a
compliance action plan, setting out the actions that it will take to meet the
target and the timetable for doing so. In addition, its eligibility to
participate in the Protocol’s international emissions trading system will
be suspended.

For the EU-15 Member States, the Kyoto Protocol compliance procedures would
apply if the EU-15 as a whole missed its 8% reduction target. Should this occur,
each Member State would be held to its target set out in the Decision to ratify
the Protocol and the Community would be considered non-compliant.

The remaining 10 Member States with Kyoto targets (Bulgaria, Czech Republic,
Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia) are
bound to their individual targets as set out in the Protocol, both under the
Protocol’s non-compliance procedures and under EU law.

Member States are committed under EU law to meet their targets, which are
enforceable by the Commission through the infringement procedure.

What will happen after Kyoto's first commitment period?

The Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period – the period during
which the EU and other developed countries must meet their targets for limiting
or reducing emissions – expires at the end of 2012.

After two years of informal talks on possible future action, Parties to the
UNFCCC agreed at the UN climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia in December
2007 to launch formal negotiations on a new global climate agreement covering
the period after 2012. They also set a time and place for concluding the future
agreement: December 2009, at the UN climate conference to be held in Copenhagen.

Furthermore, the Bali conference agreed a ‘Bali Action Plan’ to
guide the negotiations between UNFCCC Parties. The Bali Action Plan sets out the
key building blocks of the future treaty. These are:

i. Enhanced mitigation of climate change by limiting or reducing emissions.
The action plan envisages commitments or actions by developed countries which
could include quantified objectives for limiting and reducing emissions.
Developing countries will also take action, but in their case no reference is
made to quantified emissions objectives.

ii. Adaptation to climate change;

iii. Action on technology development and transfer; and

iv. Scaling up of finance and investment to support both mitigation and
adaptation.

The decision to launch negotiations explicitly acknowledges the findings of
the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) and recognises that deep cuts in
global emissions will be required to reach the UNFCCC’s objective of
preventing dangerous levels of climate change.

In parallel with these negotiations under the UNFCCC, the Parties to the
Kyoto Protocol are negotiating new post-2012 emissions targets for developed
countries that are members of the Protocol. The idea is that these two separate
negotiating ‘tracks’ will be brought together in a single package at
Copenhagen.

Three negotiating sessions (all covering both tracks) have been held so far:
in March (Bangkok, Thailand), June (Bonn, Germany) and August (Accra, Ghana).
The fourth and final session of this year will be the UN climate change
conference taking place from 1 to 12 December in Poznań, Poland.

What is the EU’s vision for a post-2012 agreement?

The 'shared vision' of the future agreement should be to reduce global
greenhouse gas emissions sharply while helping developing countries, through
technological and financial support, to develop along a low-carbon path and to
adapt to the impacts of climate change which are now inevitable.

In view of the scientific evidence from the IPCC and others, a key element of
the shared vision must be to limit the global average temperature
increase to no more than 2ºC (3.6ºF) above the pre-industrial
level. This will require global emissions to peak by 2020 and then be reduced by
at least 50% of 1990 levels by 2050. These reductions are very ambitious but the
IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report last year backs the European Commission's
analysis that they are both technologically feasible – using clean
technologies already available or in the pipeline – and economically
affordable.

For the EU, the other key elements of the future treaty are as follows:

Commitments by developed countries to reduce their collective
emissions to 30% below 1990 levels by 2020. These commitments must reflect
comparable efforts between different countries;

Action by developing countries, especially the big emerging
economies, to limit growth in their emissions, by keeping them 15-30% below
projected 'business as usual' levels in 2020;

A framework for strengthened development and deployment of clean
technology, including its transfer to developing countries. The framework
should:

address barriers to technology deployment, especially in the area
of energy efficiency, through domestic policy development

increase investment in research and development and support
collaborative research

promote large-scale demonstration projects

promote the deployment of key technologies, including carbon
capture and storage, through the carbon market and other cooperative sectoral
strategies covering key sectors

performance-based support for actions to reduce deforestation. In
the longer term this could include a link to the global carbon market, provided
it would not undermine the functioning of the market.

The
Copenhagen agreement will need to be underpinned by a deal on financing for
clean development that helps to ensure that the substantial finance and
investment streams necessary to tackle climate change, and in particular for
developing countries, will be available. This financial support will have to be
differentiated according to the financial capability of developing countries.

What are the EU's priorities and expectations for the Poznań climate
conference?

The Poznań conference is an important opportunity to take stock of
negotiations so far, step up their pace and make further progress, and lay a
solid basis for the final year of negotiations leading up to Copenhagen.

The Poznań Conference is actually a combination of six parallel
meetings:

the 14th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP14)

the 4th Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP4)

the 29th meetings of the Subsidiary Bodies of the UNFCCC and
Kyoto Protocol – the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and the
Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technical Advice (SBSTA)

the 4th meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term
Cooperative Action under the UNFCCC (AWG LCA)

the 6th meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further
Commitments for Annex I (developed country) Parties under the Kyoto Protocol
(AWG KP).

The key results the EU will be pressing for are:

Agreement on a clear work programme to guide the negotiations in 2009, with
a possibility for the conference President - Polish Environment Minister Maciej
Nowicki - to convene an extraordinary ministerial meeting around the middle of
next year;

Progress towards the adoption of a broad 'shared vision' for cooperative
action, including targets for 2020 and 2050;

A comprehensive review of how the Kyoto Protocol can be improved and
strengthened. A decision on streamlining the management of the Protocol's Clean
Development Mechanism, an important channel of funding and technology for
low-carbon development in developing countries, is possible and could be
implemented immediately;

A firm decision on how to make Kyoto’s Adaptation Fund for developing
countries operational as quickly as possible by overcoming its teething
problems.

The high-level segment of the conference will focus on
developing the shared vision and how to finance the future agreement. It will be
preceded on 8-9 December by an international meeting of finance ministers in
Warsaw.

With a global consensus already reached that the new treaty must tackle
tropical deforestation - the source of some 20% of global emissions - the
European Commission will be promoting its recent proposals to halve gross
tropical deforestation by 2020 and halt global forest cover loss by 2030. It
proposes, among other things, establishing a Global Forest Carbon Mechanism to
help developing countries (see IP/08/1543).

In addition, the conference should see progress on several practical pilot
initiatives, such as the World Bank's Forest
Carbon Partnership Facility, and the launch of new ones such as the World
Bank's Climate
Investment Funds for mitigating emissions and adaptation in developing
countries as well as a demonstration programme for carbon capture and storage
technologies. Some of the new initiatives have been developed under the auspices
of the G-8.

The European Commission will present progress on the Global Energy Efficiency
and Renewable Energy Fund (GEEREF) (see IP/08/473),
the Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA) (IP/07/1352),
and the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation set up under
the G-8 in June (MEMO/08/380).

The Commission and the French EU presidency have also organised a programme
of some 80 public side events at which the EU Member States and Institutions
will present latest policy approaches and research findings relevant to climate
change.

Further information:Comprehensive information about EU climate
change policies is available at: